Gas-engine.



PATENTED JUNE 23, 1908 M. A. TROW & F. J. BRUMMER.

GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 20. 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1. xfiw PATENTED JUNE 23, 1908.

M. A. TROW & F. J. BRUMMER. GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 20. 1900. 4 BHEETEFSHEET 2.

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F, J.Brummerr 1/ MW zujarg No. 891,643. PATENTED JUNE 23, 1908. M. A. IROW' & F. J. BRUMMBR.

GAS ENGINE.

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Q91 in 290% ing to be a full, clear, and exact description UNITED STATES PATENT oFFroE.

MILTON A. TROW AND FREDRIOK J. BRUMMER, OF AVOCA, MINNESOTA.

GAS-ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented crane 23-, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, MILTON A. TROW and FREDRICK J. BRUMMER, citizens of the United States, residing at Avoca, in the county of Murray and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas- Engines; and we do hereby declare the followof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use'the same.

Our Invention relates to new and useful improvements in gas engines, and more particularly to that class known as rotary engines, and our object is to provide means for automatically directing the fuel from the generator to the combustion chamber.

A further object is to rovide means for increasing or decreasin tlie flow of the fuel from the generator to t 1c combustion chamher.

A still further object is to provide means fonrotating the engine in either direction.

A still further ob ect is to so attach the fuel feeding mechanism to the shaft of the engine that the operation of the feeding mechanism will not be disturbed by the reversal of the en ine.

ther objects and advantages will be here inafter referred 'to and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings which are made a part of this application: Figure 1 is a side elevation of our improved englne and feedin mechanism complete. Fig. 2 is a vertical ongitudinal central sectional view thereof. Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the engine and a portion of the feeding mechanism. Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view through the engine. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view through the feeding mechanism, as seen from line 5-5, Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a detail view of the driving cogs for the feeding mechanism, and

, Fig. 7 1s a detail view of a clutch mechanism employed in connection with our improved engine to start the same and to prevent re verse movement of the engine.

Referring to the drawing in which similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, 1 indicates the 'casing of our im roved engine, which is referably cylindrica in general outline, in w ich is mounted a piston 2, a shaft 3 being disposed laterally through suitable bearings in thecasing 1 and upon which the iston is rigidly mounted. The piston is of ess diameter than the casing 1, and is provided at regular intervals around its peri hery with a plurality of wings 4, said wings eing so arranged .as to produce a number of pockets 5 around the periphery of the piston.

Disposed at a distance from one edge of the casing 1 and preferably on a line with the lower edge thereof is a combustion chamber 6, said chamber being placed in communication with the piston 2 through the ports 7 and 8 respectively, the port 7 extending parallel with the combustion chamber and entering the casin 1 at the lower edge thereof, while the member 8 is directed upwardly from thecombustion chamber-and enters the casing 1 at a oint substantially in line with the horizontal axial plane of the casing, the two ports being separated from each other at their juncture with the combustion chamher by means of a valve 9, the said valve being so arranged that when turned in one direction, the explosivewill pass through the port 8 and rotate the piston in one direction, and when dis osed in the op osite position the port 8 wil be closed an the explosive directed through the port 7, thereby causing the piston 2 to rotate in the opposite direction.

The valve 9 is mounted u)on a suitable shaft 10, one end of which is is osed to one side of the ports and is provide at its outer end with a handle 11, which is in turn disposed into engagement with a plate 12, said plate having openings 13 therein into which 1s adapted to take a pin 14 carried by the handle 11 and by which means the valve 9 is held in its adjusted position.

Disposed at the opposite end 'of the com-' bustion chamber 6 from that occupied by the orts 7 and 8 is a feeding mechanism whic is adapted to automatically convey the fuel from the generating chamber 16 to the combustion chamber 6, the said feeding mechanism com rising a rectangular casing 17 having standards 18 and 19 at the ends thereof, 1n which islrotatably mounted a shaft 20, one end of the shaft being extended mounted in the supporting bracket 24, while the opposite end thereof is provided with a inion 26 which is disposed into mesh with a beveled car 27 mounted u on the driving g shaft 3, t e shafts 23 and 25' eing connecte by means of a sprocket chain 28, which is disposed around sprocket wheels 29 and 30, respectively on the shafts 23 and 25. y this-construction, it will be seen that 19 when the piston is rotated, the saft 20 will be rotated simultaneously therewith.

As it is necessary to drive the shaft 20 in one direction at all times and owing to the fact that the piston is adapted to be driven in either direction, we have provided means for causing a continuous rotation of the shaft in one direction, consisting of a gear 31, which is rotatably mounted upon the standard 19 and laced in mesh with the gear 21, 2Q the'axial p ane of the gear being in direct line with the axial plane of the shaft 20.-

' We have also provided the shaft 23 with a toggle joint 32 which is located between the supporting bracket 24, and the gear 22,

' thereby permitting lateral movement of the gear 22, so that it can be disposed at will into mesh with either the ear 21 'or gear 31, the lateral movement of t e shaft 23 being con- 1 trolled by means of a lever 33, which is iv- 39 otally secured to a plate 34 on the supporting bracket 24, one edge'of the plate 34 bein provided with notches 35 in which is adapte to take a latch 36 carried by the lever 33.

It will now be seen that when the engine is 5 being driven in one direction, the driving gear 22 will be disposed into mesh with the gear 21 on the shaft 20, but should the engine be, reversed and driven in the opposite direction, the latch is disengaged from its respectivenotch 35 in the plate 34 and the driving gear 22 moved laterally into engagement with the gear 31, which will result in driving the shaft 20 in the same direction as when the driving gear 22 is in mesh with the gear 5 21 before the engine isreversed.

' A plurality of eccentrics 37 are disposed an ectjual distance apart throughout the length 0 the shaft 20 and between the standards 18 and 19, each of said eccentrics being secured 5 to a piston rod 38 through the medium of the usual form of eccentric strap 39 and arm 40. Each of the piston rods 38 is disposed through suitable bearings 41 formed on the upper edge of the casing 17 and have secured to their lower ends-slide blocks 42, each of said blocks having a tapered lower end 43 which is adapted to successively enga e the tapered upper surface 44 of the floor 45 o the casing 17. The eccentrics 37 are so disposed upon the shaft20 that when the tapered ends of the two end slide blocks 42 are in engagement with their respective tapered portions of the floor 45, the central slide will be elevated to its highest point and the remainder of the ,5 slides between the central and two end slides being correspondin ly elevated or lowered, it being understood t at all of the slides upon one side'of the central slide will be descending, while the slides on the opposite end thereof will be ascending when the central slide is at its highest point. This operationis clearl illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing and as therein shown a charge of combustible material is being directed through the casing 17 into the combustible chamber 6, the material being carried through the casing in a substantially wave motion, those slides at the right of'the central slide being shown as descending, while those on the left of the central slide being shown as ascending, and it will be understood that as the slides descend one after the other, that the charge of material will be gradually driven towards the combustion chamber, and as soon as the last slide adjacent the combustion chamber is elevated, the force of the charge will raise the Valve 46 anddirect the charge into the combustion chamber 6, the charge being prevented from casually entering either of the ports 7 or 8 by means of the valve 47 which is disposed between the combustion chamber 6 and mouth of the ports 7 and 8, and is held normally closed by means of a tension spring 48, the tension screw 49 being adjustably disposed through the housing of the combustion chamber into engagement with said tension sprin so that the tension upon the valve 47 may le increased or diminished as desired.

The extreme inner end of the shaft 20 'is provided with an eccentric50, to which is secured a sparking plug 51, said plug extending.into the combustion chamber 6, where it is intermittently disposed into connection with the terminal plate 52, said sparking plug and terminalplate being connected in any: referred manner to a source of electric supp y, so that when the sparking plug and terminal areseparated a spark will be produced and the charge in the combustion chamber exploded.

As before stated, the slide blocks 42 on the right of the central block are descending and as soon as the second block from the generating chamber 16hasreached the floor 45, the first block adjacent to the generating cham ber 16 will begin to ascend thereby opening the port 52 in the generating chamber 16 and allowing a new su ply of fuel to enter the casing 17 and by the time the central block has reached the floor 45, the block nearest the generating chamber will have reached its full upward stroke and the remaining blocks between the central block and end block will be elevated accordingly, and when the central block is in engagement with the floor 45, the block adjacent the combustion chamber 6 will be elevated to its full hei ht, while the blocks between the central bloc and the one adj acent to the combustion chamber will be descending, each succeeding block that when the central b point, the remainder of the blocks at either from the end block to the centralbloclr being slightly lower than the ock is at its lowest slide blocks to operate faster or slower,'it

being understood that when a heavy load is being pulled that the operation of the slide blocks is to be increased, thereby feeding the fuel into the combustion chamber more rapidly and increasing the driving power of the piston, and likewise when a light load is being pulled, the size of the gearing is so varied that the shaft 20 will be driven slower, thereby operating the slides less rapidly to feed the fuel into the combustion chamber at longer intervals and accordingly decreasing the driving capacity of the piston. The speed of the engine is regulated by means of a governor 54 which is suitably mounted upon a support 55, the stem of the governor having ivotally' secured to the up er end thereof t e usual form of governor ba s 56, which are connected to a sliding collar 57, by means of links 58.

Surrounding the collar 57 and seated in a groove therein is a band 59, to which is secured a depending arm 60, said arm having a collar 61 at the lower end thereof, which is slidably disposed around the stem of the governor. Secured to one edge of one of the supporting blocks 62 is a standard 63, to the upper end of which is pivotally secured the brake arm 64, one end of the arm being adjustably secured to the depending arm 60,

while the opposite end thereof is provided with a brake-shoe 65, which is adapted to be disposed into engagement with a power wheel 66 secured to the shaft 3.

The lower end of the governor stem is provided with a pinion 67, with which meshes a similar pinion 68, the shaft supporting the pinion 68 also having a pulley 69 at the opposite end thereof,.around which is disposed a driving belt -7 O, the belt being also disposed around a pulley 71 on the shaft 3, the result being that when the shaft 3 is rotated the governor will be operated, and as the s eed of the shaft increases, the balls 56 wi be raised and the brake-shoe dis osed into engagement with the periphery of the power whee and the greater the speed of the shaft 3, the greater the amount of pressure ex receding block, so

ment with the power wheel until the speed of the-piston has reached a certain oint, and as soon as the speed of the iston as been diminished, the governor ba ls will descend and dis ose the brake-shoe outv of engagement wit the power Wheel.

In order to start the engine, we have rovided a -suitable starting mechanism as est shown in Fig. 7 of the drawing, said mechanism comprisin a ratchet Wheel 72, which is fixedly secure o the shaft 3 and a lever 7 3 the same being rotatably mounted upon the shaft 3 adjacent to the ratchet 72 and having movably mounted thereon a bifurcated dog 7 4, which is adapted to engage notches in the ratchet wheel as desired. The bifurcated dog is controlled by means of a spring which is rigidly secured at one end to the lever 73 and at its oppositeend to the central portion of the dog 74, so that the dog is held under tension at all times, and when the engine is being operated in one direction, one end of the bifurcated dog is directed into engagement with the notches in the ratchet 72 and is held in engagement therewith by the spring 75, and when it is desired to operate t e engine in the opposite direction, the bifurcated dog is swung upon its pivot point, and the opposite end thereof directed into engagement with the ratchet 72, the spring 75 moving to the opposite side of the vertical center of the lever 73, so as to exert tension upon this respective end of the dog.

The lever 73 is provided with a suitable latch 76, which is adapted to engage a notch 77 in a rack bar 78, so that the lever 73 will.

be held rigidly in a vertical position when the engine is running, thereby rendering it impossible for the engine to accidentally reverse 1tself and run in the o posite direction from the fact that one end of the bifurcated dog 7 4 will be in engagement with the ratchet 72 at all times, and prevent the reverse movement of the piston.

To start the engine the latch 76 is disengaged from the notch 77, and should it be desired to rotate the engine in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2 of the drawing, that end of the dog extending to the left of the lever 73 is lowered into engagement with the ratchet 72, then by moving the lever 73 rapidly from right to left, momentum will be given the piston, and to run the engine in the opposite direction, the opposite end of the dogis placed into engagement with the ratchet 72.

In operation the fuel is introduced into the generator in any preferred manner as through a pipe 78, said pipe leading from any suitable storage tank (not shown), and may be fed through the pipe by gravity or under pressure as desired, the air is introduced into the pipe at any suitable point before it enters the generating chamber 16.

The pipe 78 is provided with a valve 79, so that the supply of fuel may be cut off from the generating chamber at any time desired.

- casing 1.

After the fuel is introduced into the generating chamber 16, it is heated in any referred manner and then introduced into t e casing 17 through the port 53, and as the slide blocks 42 alternately descend, the charge of fuel is directed to the opposite end of the casing 17 and disposed into the combustion chamber 6. After the charge is directed into the combustion chamber, the valve 46 closes, whereupon the charge is exploded by means of the spark plug 51, the force of the explosion opening the valve 47 and entering the pockets 5 on the piston 2 through one of the ports 7 or 8, and as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, the charge is passing through the port 8 which will result 1n driving the iston to the left or in the'direction indicated y the arrow, the valve 9 being lowered over the mouth of the port 7.

The exploded gases are carried in the pockets 5 until they have reached a point adj acent the live port, where it is discharged through an exhaust ort 80 in one side of the Should it e desired to reverse the engine, the valve 9 is elevated and directed over the mouth of the ort 8, whereupon the charge of material will enter the pockets in the piston through the port 7, which will result in driving the piston in the opposite direction from that indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. However before the valve 9 is disposed over the port 8 to reverse the engine, the driving gear 22 is disposed into engagement with the gear 31, so that when the en gine is reversed, the shaft 20 will still continue to rotate in the same direction as previously, and the fuel fed or waved from end to end of the casing 17 in the usual manner. At such times as it is desired to run 'the engine slowly and the gears have been changed to feed the material at a slower rate through the casing 17, the amount of material in the generating chamber 16 will be greater than when the fuel is being fed at a eater speed, and to prevent accident as by t e pressure in said chamber causing the same to explode, we have provided a safety valve 81 which is normally held in position in any referred manner as by a weighted arm 82. t will be clearly understood also that the casing 17 may be provided with a suitable water jacket if desired to keep the same from becoming overheated and prevent the action of the slides therein, and it will be further understood that the number of slide blocks may be increased or diminishedas desired and constructed in any preferred size and shape.

1. An engine of the character described,

embracing a generatin chamber, a combus-.

tion chamber, valves. or controlling the delivery action of said enerating chamber and of supplying the com ustiblematerial to said combustion chamber, respectively, materialcharging means intermediate of said generating chamber and said combustion chamber, including a lurality of falling and rising slides or mem bers adapted to effect the feeding of.said material in wave like fashion,v

* and means adapted to actuate the valves of said generating and combustion chambers through the action of said slides.

3. An engine of the character described,

comprising a generating chamber e uip ed with a delivery valve, a combustion 0 am er also rovided with a valve arranged to control t e supply of combustible material, material charging means including a plurality of members or slides arranged in two series, those of one series having a descending action and those of the other series having an ascending action, means adapted to be actuated by said slides for operating said valves, means adapted to receive a rotary action from said combustion chamber, and means for actuating said slides or members from said rotary-action receiving means.

- 4. An engine of the character described,

comprising a generating chamber having a delivery valve, a combustion chamber having a valve arranged to control the supply of combustible material, material charging means including a plurality of slides or members arranged in two series, those of one series having a descending movement and those of the other series having an ascending movement, means adapted through theaction of said members or slides to actuate said delivery and su ply valves of said generating chamber and said combustion chamber, respectively, means adapted to receive a rotary action from said combustion chamber, means for actuating said slides or members from said rotary-action receiving means and means for reversing the motion of said rotaryaction receiving means from said combustion chamber.

5. An engine of the character described, comprising a valve equipped generating a I chamber, a valve equipped combustion chamber, material-charging means including a plurality of slides or members arranged in two series, those of one series having a descending movement and those of the other series having an ascending movement, means adapted through the action of said slides to control the action of the valves of said generating chamber and said combustion chamber, means adapted to receive a rotary action from said combustion chamber, means for actuating said slides or members from said rotary-action receiving means and means adapted to provide for the continuous rotation of said slide-actuating means in connectionwith said rotary-action receiving means. In testimony whereof We have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

" MILTON A. TROW.

FREDRICK J. BRUMMER. Witnesses:

D. O. WESTBY, GUNDA WESTBY. 

